February 03, 2014

Speechless

Wow, guys—I can’t thank you enough for your incredibly kind & supportive words. I’m feeling all warm & emotional*, and blessed to have connected—even if just in small ways—with so many interesting folks. I’m trying not to let the well-wishing go to my head (I’m wary of going out like Yaphet Kotto in Live & Let Die. :-)), but if Google needs another Project Loon balloon, they can leverage my now-swollen cranium.

** Announcing a big change: I’m going to Google.

After nearly 14 terrific years at Adobe, it’s time for me to open a different chapter of my life, and next week I’ll be joining Google’s digital photography team.

I’m feeling a crazy mixture of emotions right now. Adobe has been & remains so dear to my heart—I mean, I’m literally made of Adobe icons, right? My wife (whom I met on a customer visit—of course I did!) works here, as do more great friends & colleagues than I’d have any business asking for. All around me I see exciting progress, and I’m dying for you to see what teams are cooking up.

So, why make this move?

Merlin Mann once asked me, “What do you want ten times more of?” I knew the answer: Impact. I’m so proud of the impact I’ve had at Adobe. From Smart Objects to Photoshop’s first-ever public beta* to countless little tweaks over the years (“I swear because I care!!”), I’m proud of that legacy. Now, though, I’ll get a chance to work on some new projects. It’s about doing something very different from, and I think complementary to**, the work I’ve done at Adobe.

So is this goodbye? Not at all. You’ll still be hearing from me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+***. It’s a small industry, so don’t get excited: you’re not rid of me yet. :-)

What about this blog? I hope to post through Friday, and I’ll try to wrap things up properly so you’ll know when it’s going quiet. (God, just typing that makes my screen go blurry…) The blog has been a labor of love (more than 4,200 posts & 33,000 comments over 8.5 years), and I find feedback & insights from readers invaluable in doing my job. Thank you so, so much for reading & often writing here.

Amazingly I have ~120 draft posts I’ve never quite gotten out the door, and while I won’t subject you to all of those, I’ll share what time permits. Beyond that, if you need anything or have any questions, please ask away. And I’m easy to reach outside of work: I’m my firstname.lastname@gmail.com.

I want to tell you—and I say this with all the sincerity in my body—thank you for giving me such an honor & privilege of making products for you for so long.

Yours,J.

* “‘Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.’—Goethe” I quoted back then, and I repeat it to myself now.

** Adobe & Google have enjoyed great collaboration for years, and I hope to take that even further. There’s so much we can all do to help photographers & storytellers of every sort.

*** I’m even giving thought to continuing a version of the blog via jnack.com. Once you put on these red shoes, you can’t stop dancing…

The $9.99/mo. Photoshop Photography Program returns

For a limited time, you can join a special Creative Cloud plan. It includes access to Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5, plus feature updates and upgrades as they are available, 20GB of cloud storage for file sharing and collaboration, and a Behance ProSite. And it’s just US $9.99/month when you sign up for a one-year plan, but you need to join by March 31, 2014. Questions? See our FAQ and terms. [Notably: “This offer is available to anyone until March 31, 2014. There are no previous product ownership requirements.”]